Taobao/Tmall to Sue Click Farm in Attempting To Harm Its Reputation (2026)
One of the most important factors in the success of any organization is its public image. If the market thinks you are fair in your business and provide quality products and services then surely you are going to enjoy a high profit. If someone tries to tarnish your good reputation then it is your right and responsibility to take serious action to preserve or restore your reputation. Recently, the same thing happened to Alibaba, a Chinese online shopping retailing giant. Alibaba didn’t like it when a click farm site of Hangzhou Jianshi Technology Co., Ltd., called the Shatui, started influencing the credibility of Alibaba’s Chinese markets. The Chinese media reported that Alibaba filed a lawsuit against Hangzhou Jianshi for the same reason. They claimed 312,000 USD in return for the practices carried out by Shatui and promised to use the money (if they win the case) for the establishment of an anti-click farm fund. This was the first time a case of this sort was made against a Chinese e-commerce company.
Click Farming: a Big Problem for E-Commerce
The click farming method mentioned here is worth understanding. Click farming is a practice used in China to inflate transaction volume, create false ratings, and fabricate reviews. This creates more apparent popularity, which further generates more revenue. Hence, more sellers are hiring click farms to boost their visibility. This practice reduces the credibility of products on Alibaba because buyers assume that positive ratings and reviews are the result of paid manipulation. Any seller with a low-quality product can portray it as the best through a false rating system. It is not only bad for sellers but also alarming for buyers. Many buyers on Alibaba ended up purchasing low-quality products because of fabricated ratings and paid reviews. Several other international online retail platforms also face this problem with paid reviews and it affects their credibility. Alibaba is a vigilant organization and has consistently pushed back against this threat.
Alibaba Protects Its Credibility
It does not come as a surprise that despite being such a renowned name in the industry, Alibaba faces the same problem. They have taken significant steps to reduce this kind of fraud. However, they still face problems with disingenuous reviews, inaccurate sales numbers, and the click farms that enable both. Alibaba identified the problem but still had to come up with an intelligent plan to improve their rating and reviewing system. There are smaller companies helping sellers look good on online stores through paid reviews and dummy transactions. The manipulation of the market is not new, but it should not cross a certain level, otherwise the whole marketplace becomes useless for legitimate small sellers.
This type of fraud first became popular on Taobao and has only become a more common tactic for many companies. Platforms like Meituan-Dianping, Ctrip, and Didi have all been caught up in click farming scandals. By 2025, Chinese regulators had expanded enforcement to cover AI-generated fake reviews and automated bots, not just manual click farms. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued updated guidelines in 2024 making platform operators directly liable for fraudulent review ecosystems on their marketplaces.
The Lawsuit and Its Outcome
Alibaba’s lawsuit was well-reasoned and had a strong chance of succeeding. It followed a government crackdown on the site in April, after which Alibaba decided to pursue a civil suit. This was because Shatui was initially only subjected to an administrative penalty of around 100,000 RMB, much less than the 2 million RMB that Alibaba claimed Shatui had made from its fraudulent practices.
Click farming companies generated 26.39 million RMB in transactions. Shatui had been helping retailers on Taobao and Tmall to inflate their shop credits and reviews. Alibaba’s data backed up their claims by identifying 220,000 Taobao retailers who had faced display priority deprivation during the February to March period. With Shatui only having 3,000 service stores, the scale of damage was clear.
To address this problem, state authorities and internet companies came together. The National Development and Reform Commission signed a memorandum with Alibaba for improving business credit rating systems. Seven state authorities and eight internet companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu Nuomi, and Didi, all entered an agreement to share information on click farming. This case improved market standards and helped buyers select the right seller to get their desired products.
What This Means for Cosmetics Brands in China in 2026
For cosmetics brands entering China, fake reviews and inflated sales figures are a direct threat to return on investment. When we worked with Clarins on their Tmall flagship store, one key priority was building authentic review volume through verified purchasers rather than relying on any form of paid social proof. Platforms now use machine learning to flag suspicious review patterns, and penalties for brands caught using click farms can include delisting. In 2025, Tmall tightened its seller verification requirements and introduced a new review authenticity score visible to shoppers. Brands that built genuine customer communities early are now at a clear competitive advantage.
Xiaohongshu and UGC: The Real Alternative
Authentic user-generated content on Xiaohongshu has become the most trusted signal for Chinese beauty consumers. Unlike fabricated Tmall reviews, genuine posts from real users carry weight with both shoppers and platform algorithms. Brands that invest in real communities on Xiaohongshu build a review base that no lawsuit can replicate.
Looking for help? Our Tmall partner agency can support your brand’s entry into China.
